74 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



until it falls to the ground, yellow and soft, yet lack that 

 delicate finish, that benign essential, the craft of man bestows. 

 It would seem that the plant has been cultivated for so 

 long a period that it has become dependent upon man not 

 only for its existence but for the excellence of its crowning 

 effort. An abandoned banana grove soon disappears, for 

 although seeds are undoubtedly produced, the occasions are 

 so rare that the reproduction of the cultivated varieties 

 depends solely upon the rhizome, and these very speedily 

 deteriorate if neglected. Another feature of the banana, 

 of which man takes full advantage, is that though the bunch 

 be removed before the fruit is matured as to size, the 

 ripening process proceeds, just as though there had been 

 no untimely interference. The bananas may be small, but 

 will, as a rule, be almost as sweetly flavoured as those 

 allowed to develop on the plant. Yet the superfine 

 aesthetic essence is not for the delight of those to whom the 

 fruit is tendered after it has undergone a sea voyage. Let 

 there be no misunderstanding with respect to the desirable- 

 ness of the coastal tract of North Queensland as a territory 

 capable of supporting a large, prosperous and healthful 

 population. It is no part of the present purpose to extol 

 the mineral or the pastoral districts. They lie apart. But 

 in North Queensland agriculture is almost solely confined 

 to the coast and is essentially tropical. The tropics re- 

 present that portion of the earth's surface wherein man may 

 live with the minimum of exertion, where actual wants are 

 few, and wherein ample comforts may be enjoyed by those 

 who seek them with a quiet mind and easy understanding. 

 Although the question may be perhaps beyond proof, it 

 might be safely asserted that a larger proportion of men of 

 the yeomen class, represented by those who have succeeded 

 in tropical agriculture in North Queensland, are independent 

 to-day, than of the men in Victoria and New South Wales, 

 who devoted their energies to sheep-farming, wheat-growing 

 and dairying. Out of the comparatively few sugar-cane 

 farmers in North Queensland, a considerable percentage 

 have acquired independence, and many wealth. Few have 



